First Nation votes on ring road deal

Members of the Tsuu T'ina First Nation voted Tuesday on a tentative deal with the province that would pave the way for a southwest Calgary ring road.

About 900 band members out of 1,500 residents are eligible to vote in the referendum that could change life on the reserve, and for Calgary commuters.

"It's split," said Levon Eagletail, who is in favour of the deal. "People have different feelings to the road and the proposal.The young people that are aroundmy age are morethinking of economic development and more thinking about [how] the money would help out our reserve in a big way. And the older people don't want to see this road because they see it as us selling out our land."

The proposal would see the First Nation transfer 400 hectares of land, where the ring roadwould be built, to the province in exchange for $240 million and 2,000 hectares of Crown land on the northwest border of the reserve stretching west to the edge of Kananaskis Country.

The tentative deal was reached in March after decades of stops and starts in negotiations with the province. The stretch of land at issue is considered sacred and some of it contains burial grounds.

'If we lose that land, we're never going to get it back'

A few band members stood with signs that said, "Vote no" and "Not for sale," at the top of the driveway leading to the administration building where the ballots were being cast on Tuesday.

"Chief Gordon Crowchild, Chief David Great, my great grampa Crowchild that walked Crowchild Trail, that's all our land. If we lose that land, we're never going to get it back," said Lewis Crowchild.

Irene Crowchild, 17, created a Facebook group to encourage more discussion about the contentious issue.

"I'm not old enough to vote, so I decided I could change the minds of young and old, so I don't want to just sit around and watch a mistake happen."

The southwest portion of the proposed road, which would run about 20 kilometres, is planned to start at an interchange at Sarcee Trail, Highway 8 and Glenmore Trial. The City of Calgary wants to see the road run though the First Nation's land from Glenmore Trail to 22X on the western edge of Calgary.

The polls close at 8 p.m. and results aren't expected until around midnight.